Photo: 123RF/Steve Heap 2016
Complex legal manoeuvrings and bankruptcy proceedings are underway as some large US pharmaceutical companies attempt to settle huge lawsuits arising out of the opioid epidemic. Drug maker Johnson and Johnson has been fined US$572m for fueling the state of Oklahoma's opioid problem, and oxycontin maker, Purdue Pharma has filed for bankruptcy, while announcing a US$10b plan to settle lawsuits.
US journalist and author of Dopesick, Beth Macy has closely followed the public health crisis which has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans, writing about the devastating effects on small town USA. She asks - How do you put a price on the misery bottled, packaged and sold by the pharmaceutical companies fueling America's opioid epidemic?.
